Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
2
Professor, VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland
FIN-02044 VTT, Finland
Abstract:
Special technical textiles are used in papermaking to support, transfer, and dewater the paper web. These
textiles, paper machine cloths, have many essential functions connected to their position on the paper or board
machine. Mechanical wet pressing uses press felts, whose porosity and resiliency are important for effective
dewatering. Water is squeezed out by two overlapping paper machine rolls, which form a nip. After squeezing,
the porous felt should be void and return to its original thickness to ensure efficient dewatering. Friction forces
are also present at the nip, since abrasive interfaces occur between the cloths and the rolls by pressure, heat,
and movement. Thus in time, the harsh papermaking process wears out the press felt, deteriorating its quality. At
high machine speed, defects in press felts, rolls, or other parts of the nip environment can cause runnability
problems such as noisy run, that is, vibration in the pressing section, decreasing paper quality and output
capacity.
This study sought for a new way to simulate the ambiguous nip phenomenon on laboratory scale and to find out
a way to predict this noisy run problem. A dynamic test method, the Hopkinson Split Bar, was used to define the
ease with which strike energy passed through from the upper roll to the lower roll and the damping of strikes by
new and worn felt samples.
In our study, the elasticity of the press felt was strongly linked with the ageing time. Decreased elasticity lets a nip
impulse more easily through the press felt.
Keywords:
Paper machine cloths, nip, resiliency, vibration, runnability, Hopkinson Split Bar
Introduction by two overlapping rolls. The paper machine may have 1-4
press nips, which usually need 2-4 press felts (Figure 1). For
Special technical textiles are used in the forming, pressing, example, in a four-nip press section a linear load can vary
and drying sections of paper machines. These paper machine from 70 to 140 kN/m (1,8-3,5 MPa). A press impulse varies
cloths, forming fabrics, press felts, shoe press belts, transfer accordingly between 2,8-5,6 kPas at a machine speed of 1,500
belts, and dryer fabrics, transfer, support, and dewater the m/min and a nip length of 0,04 m, the numbers depending on
paper web. Therefore, they have a very important role in the the design of the wet press section and the paper grade [6].
process.
In optimal dewatering, the press felt should be void (porosity)
Dewatering can be done in different ways, but in this paper and recover its original thickness after the nip (resiliency).
we focus on the press section. Mechanical wet pressing uses Moreover, the paper web should not reabsorb water in the
permeable press felts and high-load dense rolls to remove expanding part of the nip. To inhibit rewetting, the paper web
water maximally. Squeezing, also called the nip event, is done and felt are rapidly separated after the nip [6, 12]. Thus for
Figure 1. Left: dewatering event in press nip; right: three-nip press section [11].
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optimal drainage, the papermaking parameters and the technique and the design of samples. The preliminary work
properties of the press felt are of prime importance. before HSB testing and the parameters of the HSB device are
discussed in the experimental part, and HSB results are given
The materials and structure of the press felt together with its in Results and Discussion.
manufacturing method define the properties of the press felt
such as even pressure distribution in the nip, smoothness, Theoretical part
resiliency, tendency to rewet, and durability. The papermaking
parameters, such as paper machine velocity, type of rolls, For many decades, wet pressing has been investigated to
and nip load, define together with the press felt nip width, improve paper quality and to increase production capacity in
dwelling time, void volume in the nip, and water flow velocity. papermaking. Scientists have developed some press
These factors reflect directly on an important indicator, the dry simulators, for example, the Wahren-Zotterman and the
content of the paper sheet, which is continuously monitored hydraulic press simulator, which have been used to research
during the process. To maintain the dry content at a certain dewatering and z-directional distribution of filler materials in
level, changes in the properties and structure of the press felt the paper web [9, 10].
should be taken in account and reacted to. This is best done
by cleaning and conditioning the press felts during operation In our research, we used a rapid strike test method, the
(4-6 weeks) and by using extra equipment such as suction Hopkinson Split Bar, with a porous textile piece to simulate
boxes, and high- and low-pressure showers [1, 6, 7]. one nip impulse.
Many factors effect changes in press felts in the nip, the most Principle of the Hopkinson Split Bar technique
powerful being mechanical forces such as pressure, friction,
tension, and shear, which deform felt structure and make it The Hopkinson Split Bar technique is well-known in material
lose its caliper and become more compact during its lifetime. characterization. By means of stress-strain curves, it is
Concurrently, the felt’s dewatering efficiency declines. In our possible to define a material’s resistance to deformation and
research, press felt deformations reached even single energy consumption. HSB test samples are usually rigid
materials, yarns and staple fibres, the base materials in press materials such as metals and ceramics, but nowadays also
felt production. The general polymer for yarns and fibres is
other testing materials are being researched such as polymer
synthetic polyamide 6, which has good properties such as
composites, honeycombs, and concrete. In some cases,
hydrophilia and abrasion resistance. Forces in the nip deform
the cross section of the fiber from circular to flat and cause polymer composites have been reinforced with a woven fabric
even fibre breaks. The reshaping of fibres increases the [2, 8].
density of the felt surface and decreases the size of capillary
pores for dewatering. Furthermore, paper chemicals and The HSB technique, capable of testing compression, shear,
several contaminants such as fillers, pitch, and sizing agents, and tension, is based on the progressive movement of elastic
increase interfiber locking and fibre wear, gluing fibers together stress waves in solids and can be performed at low or elevated
and leaving hard particles to damage the fibre surface. temperatures [2, 8]. In our tests, we used the compression
Moreover, contaminants stick inside the press felt and thus technique at room temperature.
fill the felt. Moving and rotating rolls, such as stretch and guide
rolls, generate tensile stress, and in- and out-of-plane shear The HSB device consists of three bars, the first of which is a
stress in the press felt. With compression, tensile and shear striker bar, the second an incident bar, and the third a
forces increase locking and the filling-in of felt structure.
transmitted bar. The striker bar is accelerated by an air gun,
Forces acting in the nip and the phenomena inside the felt
and the sample is located between the incident and
bring about a decline in resiliency and compaction of the press
felt. All these phenomena help underline the importance of transmitted bar. In a rapid strike test, the striker bar hit the
monitoring and maintaining the paper machine textiles during incident bar, sending an incident pulse at a certain velocity
paper making [1, 6]. inside the bar and to meet the sample surface. The sample
then collapses and usually hardens. Based on the material
Compaction and resiliency loss affect the dewatering behavior properties and the strike force, the incident pulse is divided
and runnability of the paper machine. Also other factors affect into two pulses, reflected and transmitted pulse, the former
runnability, but we focused on felt ageing and vibration (noisy moving back and forth inside the incident bar until it dies out.
run). The latter passes through the sample to continue inside the
transmitted bar (Figure 2) [2, 5].
Vibration can be generated in the nip by bad bearings, a speed
difference between rolls, unbalanced rolls, dirt on rolls, a flat Upon a strike impact, the caliper of the sample decreases
area on the rolls, roll and drive misalignment, uneven and its diameter increases. The sample can deform
distribution in the nip, insufficient void volume, and/or defects plastically, viscoelastically, and/or elastically, depending on
in the press felt. Such vibration affects negatively the quality of sample material and structure. Our assumption was that felts
paper, whose caliper profile becomes uneven and strength deform mainly elastically, because their structure has been
declines, quality problems likely to cause unscheduled designed to sustain rapid nip impulses.
shutdowns [6].
Incidents of deformation are hard to verify, because the
In our research, we observed only factors deriving from the
incident bar hits the sample many times before the sample
press felt and its ageing. We assumed that the vibration
drops between the bars. The bar is set into motion by a
frequency in the nip depends on the resiliency loss,
reflected pulse, which oscillates back and forth inside the
compaction, and wearing of the press felt.
incident bar. In our studies, data were collected only after the
Our paper is divided into the following sections: the theory first strike. A load pulse lasted an extremely short time of
part concerns the principle of the Hopkinson Split Bar (HSB) between 50-200 s [5].
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Figure 3. Resilient press felt damps part of nip strike (shock pulse), some part of strike goes through; same phenomenon
simulated in HSB device.
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Case 1: Press Felt Samples The PMC supplier had tested the felts for the extent and type
of ageing. For the HSB test, felt samples were labeled
All press felt samples shared the same woven base fabric according to their ageing as a new sample (unaged), an aged
structure (single layer) and the same number of batt layers sample, and a used sample. The aged felt samples were run
on both sides (paper and wear side). Thus the mass per up to 100,000 nip cycles with the PMC supplier’s special test
area of each batt layer was the same. The polymer was device in their laboratory. The used felt samples were
polyamide 6 (PA6) for yarns and staple fibres, but the latter removed from the paper machine after 20 days of operation.
differed in their molecular weight. All press felts were prepared
at the Laboratory of Fibre Materials Science at Tampere Experimental part
University of Technology. Half the felt samples were aged for
300,000 nip strikes in a PMC device, described in detail in [4]. Because porous and anisotropic, the press felts were
During ageing tests, the felt samples compacted substantially, challenging to test. Their anisotropy was related to the use of
as seen in Figures 4 and 5. staple fibres and yarns and different design. Moreover,
materials with different titre,
diameter, fibre directions, and
entanglement also affected felt
behavior, all factors complicating
HSB testing and result analysis.
deformation.
70
60
50 Half the pieces were saturated with
40 tap water and kept in glassware for
30
20 24 hours to guarantee thorough
10 saturation before HSB testing
0 (Figure 6).
0 100 000 200 000 300 000
Number of cycles Before each rapid strike test, the
pieces were measured for thickness
Air permeability Thickness Mass per area with a thickness gauge, causing a
slight compression of the piece. The
Figure 5. Relative values of air permeability, thickness, and mass per area of press felt pressure gauge foot pressure was
samples during ageing test. Hundred percent represents a new press felt (unaged) [4]. low and the same for all samples
Figure 5. Relative values of air permeability, thickness, and and thus negligible. In both cases, the caliper of the dry felt
mass per area of press felt samples during ageing test. varied between 3.1-4.9 mm for new samples. For aged and
Hundred percent represents a new press felt (unaged) [4]. used samples, the caliper was 2.2-3.3 mm. The wet felts
were slightly thicker because of swelling from water, natural
Case 2: Press Felt Samples of hydrophilic polyamide and porous structures.
A PMC supplier manufactured two press felts for the HSB Assembly of Felt Sample in the HSB Device
tests, a normal press felt and a special press felt for noisy
run positions. Both felts had a laminated structure with two After preparation, the felt sample was assembled between
separated woven base fabrics with several batt layers. The the incident and transmitted bars and located carefully at the
felts differed in their base textile structures and needling bars’ mid-point (Figure 7). The strike direction was always
density, and they had a total mass per area of over 1,800 g/ taken into account, so that the felt’s paper side was always
m2.
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Figure 6. Small circular pieces were punched from felt samples and half of them saturated with tap water. Before each HSB test, their
caliper was measured with thickness gauge.
The HSB results were divided by case. For case 1, HSB results
of new and aged samples with the same staple fibre molecular
weight were evaluated first with their results in wet and dry
conditions evaluated thereafter. Finally, HSB results were
evaluated based on molecular weight.
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Figure 9. Stress-strain curves of normal and special press felts for dry conditions; new felt samples at left, aged samples
in middle, and used samples from paper machine at right.
Figure 10. Stress-strain curves of normal and special press felts for wet conditions; new felt samples at left, aged samples
in middle, and used samples from paper machine at right.
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Figure 11. Diameter of new press felt samples after testing in dry and wet conditions.
main reason for the lack of difference was the HSB technique types differed only slightly, and the reference samples varied
we used: the strike bar was so fast and its impact so powerful considerably.
as to cover any divergence.
Conclusions
The first HSB tests with technical textiles were promising,
even if the results seemed not to give any new information of We should note that the HSB results here are not absolute
the press felt material properties (polyamide 6). However, we values, but unique to the tested felt samples, because in
decided to continue with the tests and studied next the such dynamic tests, measurement methods and techniques
significance of the felt structure. affect the results. Here the results and conclusions are valid
only for the press felts, HSB test device, test parameters, and
Results of Case 2 circumstances presented in this paper.
Figures 9 and 10 show stress-strain curves of both press felt In HSB testing, measuring problems emerged with new
types at different ageing stages (new, aged, and used (unaged) felt samples. Only a portion of the loading pulse
samples). At each stage, both felt types had three reference was transmitted from the incident bar to the transmitted bar.
samples. Figure 9 shows dry condition and Figure 10 wet The signal in the transmitted bar was so weak as to be
condition results. The sample symbol P114 stands for normal disturbed by noise. The problem was caused by the elasticity
and P106 for special felt type. of the new sample, which damped the strike very efficiently.
The problem with the aged samples was that their stress-
On the stress-strain curves, the highest point for the new strain curves did not differ markedly, but those for the reference
samples was much lower than that on the aged and used felt samples did. Several striker velocities were tested to solve
curves. This was the same for dry and wet conditions. this problem, but there was a limit as to how low the velocity
could be decreased.
In dry conditions, the strain (yield) of the new sample was
slightly bigger than that in the aged and used samples. Chen et all studied low-impedance samples and used a
Moreover, aged and used samples differed only slightly in hollow aluminum transmitted bar and a circular piezoelectric
stress and were almost the same in strain. A notable difference transducer in the middle of the transmitted bar to overcome
occurred in the used sample curves, where the plots were the above problems. According to them, the transducer was
grouped by felt type. much more sensitive to detect low-amplitude transmitted
forces [3].
In wet conditions, the strain values diverged widely due to
impact of water. Generally, wet reference samples varied Though the HSB tests could not assess the significance of
more and the stress-strain curves were more mixed than in the felt structure or its raw material, they confirmed the
dry conditions. assumption that worn and compacted press felts contribute
to noisy run, because a stress pulse easily passes through
After dry and wet testing, deformation (diameter increased) an aged or used felt. This was evident in the stress-strain
was obvious in the felt samples, though the diameter of all curves of new and aged samples. Another observation was
the wet samples increased more markedly (Figure 11). that new felt samples had good damping ability, a desired
property that caused some measuring problems in HSB
We should note that the sample did not deform immediately testing. A third observation was that the stress-strain curves
after one strike, for the compressive stress wave continued differed markedly when felt samples were tested in dry and
inside the incident bar after the first strike, moving the bar and wet conditions. In most HSB tests, the water saturated sample
showed lower stress values at the same strain than the dry
causing it to hit the sample again. This continued until the
sample, a difference issuing from water lubrication and
wave motion died away. Consequently, we could not
swelling of the sample. That is, water lowered the friction
determine how many strikes were responsible for the
between the fibre materials and loosened the wet felt structure.
deformation of a single sample, since during the HSB tests,
These are the significant observations to be made of our
and without a high-speed camera, we could not count their
HSB testing.
number.
Though further action is needed to improve the dynamical
The results were similar for the first case. The increase in
test method, the results testify to the resilient behavior and
stress was linked with the wear of the press felt, the two felt
wear of the felt and therefore to the promise of HSB testing.
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Further Action
Acknowledgements
Dry, P106
We wish to thank research scientist Mikko Hokka, for operating
the HSB device. We are also grateful to the PMC supplier for Wet, P106
their press felt products and co-operation.
References:
Wet, P114
∇∆
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